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Age System
The Age System Historically, the Nesarian Empire (and Nesaria specifically) operated off a system of arbitrary "ages" that divided up its history into pieces. These ages are still used to refer to periods in Nesarian history but are no longer used to define the date. As well as using the age system to calculate years (e.g. "Year 14 of the First Age"), most Elvic people (as well as several other civilisations in the region) also used a system of calculating years from the Annihilation that ended the Age of Titans, which in the Gregorian calendar is 1500 BC. For example, 1400 AD would be 2900 years after the Annihilation, known to the Nesarians as Itone Nava Cavita ("Years After the Annihilation"), or INC. Years before this are known as Itone Olati Cavita ("Years Before the Annihilation"), or IOC. For example, 4000 BC would be 2500 IOC. Titanic Calendar Although the Gregorian calendar is the official calendar of the Nesarian Empire, the "Revised Titanic Calendar" (or simply "RT Calendar") as it is called is the most frequently used calendar by the general population and is used in an unofficial capacity by most state organisations. The RT Calendar was adopted as the official calendar in 1711 and the Gregorian Calendar was adopted in 1906. This has the same number of days in a month and regularity of leap years as the Gregorian calendar, but the years start from the Annihilation, with 2019 AD being 3519 INC, and the months have names inspired by the names of the older Titanic Calendar, which had nine months (one for each Elvetan deity) with a varying number of months, the final month (which contained Dawnhail) always being the longest as it was named after King Yakela, and the eighth month named after Queen Itaena was the second longest. Since three more months needed to be added for the RT Calendar, the names of the three deceased deities were used. The months correspond as follows: * January - Jacratena ("Jacras Time", so called because each soul is judged at the start of a new year to determine how the year will progress for them) * February - Cinetena ("Kinetas Time", so called because February is the shortest month and Kinetas is the youngest of the Gods) * March - Yaesatena ("Yaesan Time", no specific reason for her month being this one) * April - Nemitena ("Nemitus Time", so called because this is when planting for wheat and many other crops begins) * May - Etanatena ("Etana Time", so called because it is believed to be the most beautiful time of year) * June - Hacaetena ("Hacaetos Time", no specific reason for his month being this one) * July - Calaesatena ("Kalaesan Time", may be related to the desire to not have children during this time as, assuming the pregnancy takes nine months, the child would be born during the busy planting season) * August - Acratena ("Acras Time", so called because Peace Day falls in August) * September - Casadutena ("Casadut Time", no specific reason for his month being this one") * October - Cetamucena ("King Cetamucos Time", so called because he is third in line behind King Yakela and Queen Itaena) * November - Itaenatena ("Queen Itaena Time", so called because she is second in line behind King Yakela) * December - Yacelatena ("King Yakela Time", so called because Dawnhail falls during this period and in the old Titanic Calendar this month was the longest) The Ages The Age of Titans The very first Age, according to ancient Nesarian records, was the Age of Titans, in which colossal animals and plants known as Titans reigned supreme. The Age of Titans lasted from about 20,000BC to 1500 BC. The Age of Darkness In between the Age of Titans and the First Age, there was the Age of Darkness, from which almost no written or archaeological records survive. The Age of Darkness lasted from about 1500BC to 600BC. Some records appear in Southern Nesaria and Eshérshire in the 700s but these are rare. The First Age (The Age of Hope) The First Age started with the foundation of the Kingdom of Ascaria by King Mathados I in 600BC. This period saw rapid Ascarian expansion and the beginning of the Mortian War. It ended in 480BC with the coronation of King Faltas II. The Second Age (The Age of War) The Second Age was the shortest Age, lasting from the coronation of King Faltas II in 480BC to the failure of the Capilus dynasty in 422BC. It is sometimes referred to as the Age of Faltas. This age saw the defeat and subjugation of Mortia and the Mortian Genocide, as well as the expansion of Ascarian dominance to all of Nesaria. The Third Age (The Age of Stagnation) The Third Age lasted from the failure of the Capilus dynasty in 422BC to its resurgence in 58BC when Emperor Mathados IV won the Republican War, turning Nesaria back into a monarchy, and declaring the Nesarian Empire for the first time. Nesaria was ruled by a republic during this period. The Fourth Age (The Age of Glory) The Fourth Age lasted from the coronation of Emperor Mathados IV in 58BC to the death of Emperor Athdus III in 141 AD. This period saw the fracture of the Nesarian Empire in the Nesarian War of Succession, and its reformation by Emperor Athdus III in 77AD. It saw Emperor Athdus III subjugate the core regions of the Empire (what is now its modern territory) and the War Against the Xaenis. The Fifth Age (The Age of Peace) The Fifth Age lasted from the death of Emperor Athdus III in 141AD to the declaration of the Mongol War in 1461 by Empress Hana I. Aside from the Time of Troubles and a few other minor conflicts, this period saw extensive peace, making the whole population unwilling to go to war until Empress Hanatea I re-invigorated the militaristic spirit in the 1450s. The Sixth Age (The Modern Age) The Sixth Age lasted from the declaration of the Mongol War in 1461 to the present day and beyond. This period saw the Nesarian Empire interact with (and often go to war with) the outside world, the rise and fall of the Empire, then it rising again and then being conquered before becoming independent again.